PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — David Correia, 44, from Palm Beach Gardens was arrested on Wednesday morning by FBI agents after getting off an airplane at JFK airport in New York.
Correia is one of four men charged with campaign finance charges. Two of them, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are also from Palm Beach County.
Prosecutors say Correia, Parnas, Fruman and Andrey Kukushkin engaged in a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office.
President Donald Trump’s campaign received a $325,000 donation from a company that prosecutors say was created by the four men to conceal illegal campaign funds.
Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign received $50,000, which the governor has since returned to the federal government.
"I didn't know any of this stuff that's come out at the time,” DeSantis said at an event in Jupiter on Wednesday. “It seemed legitimate to us. So, once we saw what happened in the last week, we went ahead disgorged that money to the treasury. Obviously had we known, we would have a different decision at the time.”
Correia, who describes himself as a former pro golfer on his Linkedin account, has been associated with Parnas as a business partner.
The duo ran a Boca Raton business called Fraud Guarantee together. Giuliani told Reuters that he had received $500,000 for his work with the company.
“I knew Parnas, I didn’t know the other guy to much,” DeSantis said. “This is a guy who was at RNC (Republican National Committee) functions, Trump Victory functions. He was at a lot of these things.
He was one of the top supporters of the President. He was at a lot of these things. It was like any other donor, nothing more than that.”
Prosecutors said Fruman and Parnas made campaign contributions to lobby US politicians to oust the ambassador to Ukraine.
Giuliani was trying to convince Ukrainian officials to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
According to the indictment, Parnas and Fruman received two $500,000 transfers in Nevada, where the four men were trying to obtain a recreational marijuana license.
Although Correia is not affiliated with a political party, he appears to have been supportive of President Trump. A picture was posted of him with the president. Federal records show his wife, Katie, donated $2,700 to Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
Palm Beach County court records show an eviction action against Fraud Guarantee, resulting in a $26,000 judgment against Correia and Parnas.
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Kukushkin and Correia will be arraigned on Thursday.